William,
You may never read this based on the subject alone but there
are things that must be said about the Utah Jazz.
Jazz fans are being force-fed to idea of patience and the
opportunity to watch the young guys develop. This was all fine and good
mid-october. Trey Burke goes down and the prospect, at least for the first few
weeks, of this media spin was significantly less tantalizing. That being said,
Jazz fans knew that there were a few teams in the league that would commiserate.
Phoenix, Philly, and Orlando fit the bill of teams that would be at least
equally depressing if not more so.
The season starts, “The Hyphen” Michael Carter Williams explodes.
The Jazz lose by 20. In Orlando, Oladipo becomes a revelation and Aaron Afflalo
exhumes himself from middling swing-guy purgatory. Luckily, these fires were no
more than a flicker and these teams found themselves in the dung heap of
tanking franchises.
Then there’s Phoenix: the team that got the PG and the coach
that everyone said the Jazz didn’t need, Eric Gordon and Jeff Hornacek,
respectively. The Suns currently hold the 6th seed in the brutal
Western Conference. The Jazz, meanwhile, have mustered their way to a
surprising 3 road wins to accompany their 3 home wins.
Disclaimer. I’m willing to give Tyrone Corbin a pass for
last year. Al Jefferson was never going to change (20 & 10 both in what he
produced and in what he allowed). Paul Millsap was clearly looking for a new
scene and to rid himself to the 2nd round label that the Jazz
franchise and fans would associate with him. Mo Williams was injured. Earl
Watson and Jamaal Tinsley still have leftovers from Y2K. It was a team that
defined mediocre. They didn’t deserve the playoffs and it played out on the
court. While some of the coaching decisions have been surprising and the
defense puzzling at times, Corbin will be allowed to finish this year—and I’m
okay with that. Maybe the purge of 2013 (not bringing back anyone, including
fan-favorites like Demarree Carroll and Randy Foye) would be expected to spill
over into 2014 some.
Now, my question for you is did the Jazz (and everyone else)
miss on Jeff Hornacek’s coaching abilities? How much credit for the Suns’ early
season success be attributed to Horny?
There are times where I feel like the Jazz franchise is like
a bank that won’t adopt mobile deposit. In the conference room where big
decisions are being made, that argument “well, this is how we’ve always done it”
is heard loud and clear and factored into the resolution. There may be too much
family organization to effect true change and innovative ideas. Which is
surprising because if the late Larry H. Miller was anything he was a man who
took insane risks and innovated at every opportunity.
Was Jeff Hornacek a new mobile phone app for banking and
Tyrone Corbin the guy who licks his fingers before giving each of his checks to
the bank teller?
Will the Jazz ever be a contender? Can I realistically
expect a championship for the Jazz or should I devote my energy to our MLS team
(an annual power)?
Baby’s crying so this stream of consciousness must end. You
may have gotten too big for these types of inquiries, so this email may be more
appropriate for Utah’s favorite son, Zach Lowe.
